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8.31.2009

... and it's a quickie! First off, sorry about the poor photos... it was cloudy yesterday when I shot these.

I thought I'd show how my cards sometime progress during the design stage. I started with the one on the bottom left, then switched up a couple things that resulted in the bottom right... and ended up with the top one.

The bottom left was too... blah. The bottom right just wasn't doin' it for me... it didn't quite have the visual triangle I was going for.

The one I ended up with works the best, I think, because there are three elements and they are grouped together; there isn't an over- abundance of white; and it has ribbon :)

8.29.2009

I can't wait for Tuesday! The new TAC Inspiration Avenue magalogue goes live... with 42 NEW stamp sets plus a few more they've brought back from last year! I was beyond honored to be asked to submit samples for this publication, and wanted to give ya'll a sneaky peek at one of the new sets!

I created the card base & attached half circles of cardstock to create a scallop border. I covered the edges of the circles with a beautiful piece of patterned paper.

I set an eyelet through one of the die cut tags, stamped the sentiment and pulled the ribbon through prior to adhering to the base.

I stamped the bird image twice... once on the light yellowish green & once on the sage. I colored some of the feathers in with a VersaMarker to add more depth, and then highlighted several parts of the bird & letters with a glitter pen.

I cut the wings out of the sage, edged it with a brown marker & popped them up on foam tape. I shifted the dimensional wings just slightly off of the main image to really give the look of a lot of feathers.

8.27.2009

Does this sentiment NOT put a smile on your face?! It's got my friend Cindy's name written ALL over it! This was another submission I sent in to TAC awhile back for consideration. Definitely not typically my style, but sooooo cute.

I added an Audrey blossom with large white eyelet... but I'm not sure about it. After setting the eyelet, I inserted a brad and then covered it with Pink Stickles... because there just WASN'T enough glitter already :) Should I have left it alone?

8.25.2009

I totally don't remember if I posted this already {did I just sound so 80's or what?}. I know Mischelle did on her blog, but I can't find it on mine... so if it is a repeater, I'm sorry! This was one of my submissions for TAC's base catalogue back in June.

Aren't they cute?! There's my favorite little rollie guy on the left... alongside most of his buddies from the rest of the set. I really like all of the eyelets... kinda like rivets, right?

8.23.2009

I was going through my card stash the other day and couldn't believe how few birthday cards I've finished! Today's quickie can easily be switched to any occasion with a simple sentiment swap... which means you could make up a stack of these babies ahead of time and just add the greeting later. A true card quickie :)

I turned the label frame vertically so that more of the Scarlet would show for that extra pop. I scored lines on either side of the sponged kraft packing paper for added detail. I also added a Scarlet border strip on the inside for just a little sumpin' sumpin'.

Be sure to go to my Haunted Blog Monday morning for another fun card & a Macabre Monday challenge!!

8.21.2009

I know, I know... it's been awhile :) So I hope this makes up for it a little bit. This card is very similar to one you've seen before, but I liked it so much and I'm waaaay behind on my Paper Wings Christmas Card Club!!

I made this up for my Christmas shoebox swap for the Gardner Stamp Club last night, and I cut a bunch of extras on purpose! Typically when I cut up extra kits, I tend to assemble them to keep in my card stash or prep to sell at craft fairs.

I like this card because it has no lumpiness... easy to mail! No extra postage... BONUS :)What do you think?

8.16.2009

I've been busy working on some creepy goodness, so if you don't see me posting here as much, I've probably been posting on my other site so be sure to come and see me :)

I DID manage to squeeze this in this weekend. I love love LOVE this paper! I don't know if it the colors or design or both, but it is one of my favs. The most time consuming part of this baby was coloring the background and letting the Crystal Lacquer dry :)

It's amazing how the lacquer changes the appearance of a colored image... it seems to really bring details to the surface. After coloring and letting the lacquer cure, I spritzed Olive Glimmer Mist over the panel and wiped it from the bird... it adds just a hint of glimmer... oooooo me likey.

8.13.2009

... before I'm off to Topeka for class! This was an image I colored at last month's class and finally made a card with it. I love the "couldn't care less" look on that cow's face... hmmm... who DOES that remind me of? :)

That's it for today, but I've got the day off tomorrow so I'm hoping to get a little crafty after I run my errands!

OH! And I've got my new Halloweenie blog started (see sidebar)... Haunted Design House... I've copied all of my Halloween posts from this one over there and those are the only posts on it so far, but I'll be starting up a weekly or bi-weekly challenge: HDH'sMacabre Mondays! I'm hoping to start that this Monday, but NO PROMISES! I really hope to get some interest in it... I know I can't be the only papercrafter that loves all that is Halloween :)

8.12.2009

First things first... TAC promotion time! Surprise boxes that retail for at least $150, are only $75 AND home office has picked several random boxes and included FREE GIFT CERTIFICATES (for T-coded stamps) valued from $50-$100... this is IN ADDITION to the box contents!!! Check it:

And here's a kicker... remember that a $75 dollar box + $25 more in purchases or sales is a $100 qualifying party which equals DOUBLE HOSTESS REWARDS!!!! Or grab a buddy and split a box AND a party AND the benefits! And now, on to the card!I don't know that I'm really feelin' this one. I started out by using Taylor's sketch TESC77. Instead of using circles, I went with rectangles... maybe that is why it isn't working. Oh well, I'm sharing it anyway :)

I do like how the squirrel is colored... I mixed my media for the image & background: Prismacolors & mineral oil for the squirrel and watercolor crayons for the background & edges. The water-coloring looks so much better for backgrounds... more even and less work :)

And do you see the little purple cardstock ruffle? I procured that idea from my WOSFF (web-o-sphere-friend-forever)Laurie... thanks, Laurie :) Just glue the top of the scallop strip above the score line and poof up the bottom... so cute.

8.11.2009

My hubby turns 34 today! Why yes... yes I DID rob the cradle, thank you :) The important thing is that I LOOK younger than he does :) He swears that I am the cause of all of his grey hair, but he was already turning grey when I met him at age 23... seriously... I'm SO not making that up :)

No big birthday plans for us... we never make any. Sometimes we'll do dinner & a movie, but that is rare... we are SOOOOOOOOOOO married. AND, Poot just happens to be the MOST UNROMANTIC man ever, so anniversaries aren't a big deal around here either... dammit. :)

8.10.2009

I thought I posted this already! oooops. I had taught how to create this card & scrapbook page at my July Hostess Club & class nights in July, and thought... what the heck, I'll send it in... and ta da! I was fortunate enough to win TAC's July 'Card to Crop' contest for demonstrators!! Yeay... more free stamps, paper, & ribbon... oh my :)

I stamped the stitches on the card, but switched it up and used the Scor-Bug on the page. I love the white core cardstock... it is perfect for sanding & distressing to really give a 'worn' look. I even sanded the edges of the photo... that is one of my BFF's son, Braden (total cutie!!).

I went a little button-happy on these, but if you could see the jar o' buttons I have, you would not be surprised :) I need to sort them into several smaller jars so it is easier to find certain colors... although it is fun to just root around in the big jar (just time consuming!).

I sketched a primative looking star for the background to the photo mat... very primative! The edges are inked very lightly... along with the other stars. And I don't know if I could live without my Scrapper's Floss & glue dots for buttons...

8.08.2009

It's been forever since I've had a chance to participate in the Mojo challenges, so I'm happy that I was able to come up with this little lovely last night. It's got a vintage feel AND it uses smaller bits from my pile-o-scraps... bonus! Go HERE to see the MOJO98 sketch! AND 365 Cards Day #160 calls for lace... yep I've got a two-fer!

Back-story: my sister, Debra, makes all of these awesome quilts. She has learned to use every bit of fabric from a cut, except for the salvage edges & little slivers that she ends up with because it wasn't trimmed straight at the store. Well, she saves these little gems for me & I've used one today. See the little 123 boxes... that's a salvage edge... cute, no?

The paper sack is 6.5"x10" folded in half twice... this is not the gusset-style bag, but the flat sack kind. I glued the first fold (long edge) together... my intent was to create pockets on the end for tags, but the way my card was progressing, it really wanted to be a vertical layout, so bye-bye pockets :) I'll just keep it in mind next time.

8.05.2009

Ok, so Jen is a total enabler. She sent me a link to a You-Tube video showing Martha's latest punches... as soon as I saw the web, I was hosed. So yesterday I went to THREE different Michaels stores in search... SCORE! And here's a bonus: I had 50% off coupons!!! Oh don't think I wouldn't have paid full price... I might have... I mean, I could only find one of the corner punches in stock anywhere! Yeah, I know... weird... plenty of the borders, but only one lonely corner punch... and it is all mine{muhuwah ahh ahh ahh aaaaaaaaaahh}

Sooooooooo, guess I what I made last night... how's this for cuteness? I KNOW! Why else would I add the creepy little black spider confetti... had have just a teensie touch of that "uh, ewwww" ;)

I grabbed a chunk-o-cardstock out of my 'big scrap' scrap pile and started playing... I must say that I wish the two border webs were the same so that I could overlap them if needed when punching them out. I mean, I like the look of the subtle difference, but it kinda blows for when you need just one less web. But me still likey :)

I don't know if you can see it, but the two web corners and the mat are all one piece. I just had to get a little crafty with it since I did not have the correct size of cardstock with which to start. But if you go to the Aug. 3rd post on Chelsea's blog, she's done some measuring for us!!!

If I had this to do over, I would have switched out my sewing machine thread to black and stitched the swiss dot to the base i.l.o. staples... they are a little distracting. I also would have only done a couple of corners with the splatter stamp instead of all the borders. It's a little busy for me.

Good grief... I never think there is much on a card until I list the freakin' ingredients! And most of my "misc. ribbon" notes are because I have one on those huge Ribbon-eze thingies and I have no flippin' idea who made what :)